What I Was

by Meg Rosoff

Meg Rosoff, multi award winning author of How I Live Now, explores the pain of first love and coming-of-age in her compelling novel What I Was, which was once described by The Times as 'Samuel Beckett on ecstasy.'

Shall I tell you about the year I discovered love?

I'd been kicked out of two boarding schools and the last thing I wanted was to be here, on the East Anglian coast, in a third.

But without St Oswald's, I would not have discovered the fisherman's hut with its roaring fire, its striped blankets, its sea monster stew.

Without St Oswald's, I would not have met the boy with the beautiful eyes, the flickering half-smile, and no past.

Without St Oswald's I would not have met Finn.

And without Finn, there would be no story.

Shall we begin?

' . . . thrilling and sensitively told' - Observer

' . . . mordantly funny and searingly well written' - The Times

Bestselling author Meg Rosoff has received great critical acclaim since the publication of her first novel How I Live Now (winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize). Her other novels, Just in Case (winner of the 2007 Carnegie Medal) and The Bride's Farewell, are also available from Puffin. Follow Meg on Twitter @megrosoff.

• ISBN10: 0141322462
• ISBN13: 9780141322469
• Publish Date: 14 May 2008 (first published 30 August 2007)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 2 June 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

I don’t think what I’m going to say amounts to spoilers, as such, but I’ll tag it as such just in case.

Anyway, apparently, this was a whole different book for me than what others read. The “huge,” “never saw it coming” surprise I guessed just from reading the jacket cover, so the whole book felt like trying to shake “H,” the narrator, awake. At least he admits as much himself, in hindsight. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine making it through the first chapter without recognizing the end, but then I’m always able to guess twists or endings miles ahead so don’t take my word for it.

Still, the writing was sturdy, if not adventurous, and witty, if not sparks and flame. It would have been forced as a novel, but hovering somewhere between a short story and novella, Meg Rosoff just gets away. There were enough solid passages I thoroughly enjoyed that I’m bumping the rating up a grade despite the indulgent “twist!”